


Time Travel Mishap

by StevenTLawson



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Older Woman/Younger Man, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Survivor Guilt, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:34:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27954701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevenTLawson/pseuds/StevenTLawson
Summary: A normal field trip to Capsule Corp turns into a disaster after Gohan accidentally knocks over a time machine that Bulma was working on sending his class, the blue haired inventor and himself hurtling into the future. Meeting some familiar but not always friendly face, they worked together to come back to the past. They bring along a few extras with them as well.
Relationships: Android 18/Krillin (Dragon Ball), Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Future Bulma Briefs/Son Gohan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

It was a few weeks into Gohan's time at Orange Star High when Gohan and his class were taken on a field trip to Capsule Corp. Gohan wasn't feeling too excited, not because he didn't want to see Bulma or anything, in fact going to see her had been some of the few times his mom was less overbearing and he had a bit more freedom. But when he got there he knew there was almost no chance of him not being outed at least as a close family friend, and that's if Vegeta doesn't decide to get involved. That encounter could only be explosive.

Sitting on the back of the bus as it rolled down the lane Gohan would wish that an embarrassing afternoon with Bulma would be all that he got.

"Hey Gohan can you just bend these bars together for me?" Bulma asked nonchalantly as she had been showing off some of her latest inventions to the class of students and had gotten so into talking about her latest work she didn't even question asking Gohan for some help like she normally would do if she needed him for something.

However Gohan had also slipped into the same mindset as hearing her discuss some gizmo she was designing in the workshop made him all but forget about his classmates. So when he casually walked over and lifted what was easily a few tons of metal and twisted it in his hands, he froze the moment he realized his classmates had been watching him. "Wait I can explain," he shouted as he waved his hands in front of him, taking large steps back nervously before he knocked into a device and the last thing he heard was Bulma's alarmed shout as a bright flash of light engulfed him.

Coughing through the smoke from the explosion Gohan looked around and noticed that he and everyone who had been in the workshop were still there with him, but the workshop looked abandoned.

"What the?" Bulma said as she looked around curiously. "This is..." the blue haired woman hurried around the room in a panic. "Oh no, oh no no no." she said frantically.

Gohan ran over to spin Bulma around. "Bulma, what's wrong?"

"Gohan that was the time machine I was working on," Bulma said as she tugged at her hair. "I was trying to make one since my future self did around that time, just in case we needed one for Trunks. And you-" her statement cut off as the sound of a massive explosion in the distance rocked the building.

"Okay, I sent us somewhere in time," Gohan nodded firmly as he was able to come to understand the situation he was in, it was pretty obvious afterall. "I'm going to find out what the explosion was, you figure out how to get us back," dictating as he rocketed out of a hole in the roof.

* * *

Shooting off into the distance he could see a plume of smoke rising up from the cityscape. Landing nearby he looked around to see what he could find. "Hey!" Gohan shouted at two figures with their backs to him. "Did you two- Seventeen? Eighteen?" Gohan tilted his head in confusion at seeing the androids. "But how?"

The blonde android flipped her hair when she turned to look at which dead man called them out before her eyes widened. "Hold up? We killed you..." the android said as she recognized the young man in front of her.

"But sis, he looks, different somehow?" Seventeen questioned the appearance of what looked to be the Gohan they killed a while back, except this person looked younger. "Maybe a little brother?" shrugging his shoulders because to him it ultimately didn’t matter as he raised his hand and fired off a blast of energy that Gohan effortlessly batted away.

Even after all these years of not training, he still dwarfed the androids in power. "No, this isn't right," Gohan said as he stepped towards the androids. "Trunks went to the future, he stopped you both, and Cell," Gohan pondered as the twin terrors shared a look of disbelief, one that someone they had killed was somehow alive and much stronger than before and two because this person was ignoring them.

With a growl the androids lunged at Gohan who began to block and dodge the attacks. "Hey, I have a couple of questions for you two," Gohan said as he caught both the androids and then spun to pin their arms firmly behind their backs.

"Die asshole," Eighteen shouted as she raised her other hand and blasted Gohan in the face with some energy. "No way," she gasped after the light cleared and Gohan was completely unharmed from the attack.

"So it's obvious that you two are still evil," Gohan said as if it was such a benign concept. "But I need to know about other people, where are Trunks and Bulma?" Gohan asked before a voice called out from behind him.

"Right here... Gohan?" the young teenage Trunks said in confusion as he looked at his dead mentor who was somehow alive again.

"Oh hey Trunks," Gohan smiled at the young purple haired boy. "By any chance have you happened to use a time machine yet?"

"No," Trunks slowly shook his head. "Mom is still working on that. How do you know about it?"

"Oh we already did this once, it was a few years ago for me, but well time travel and all that makes things wonky," Gohan chuckled after letting the androids go from his grip. "Look, maybe we all just go see Bulma... er my Bulma and then she can help explain this situation." Gohan suggested as he lifted off the ground.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the Capsule Corp laboratory, Bulma was hastily wiring computers together and had taken all the students electronic devices to jump start a small generator back on. "And, we have a signal," Bulma smirked as she wiped her brow.

"Hey Bulma," Gohan said as he along with three other figures touched down in the room. "Guess who I ran into?" pointing over his shoulder at his followers.

"Oh my baby boy," Bulma smiled as she came over and hugged her son. "Look at you, I haven't seen you this young in almost seven years. "How are you?"

"Mom," Trunks shook his head. "You shouldn't be here, how did you get here?"

"Oh Gohan knocked over the time machine I was working on, you know just trying to close any loops and all that," Bulma shrugged. "So long story short, we," motioning to the class of high school students who were still stunned to see people fly and being told they were in the future that they hadn't said a whole lot. "Ended up in the future, probably a bit before you came back to warn us about the androids."

Slowly a hand raised itself up from the crowd of students. "Uh, I have several questions," Erasa said loudly from the back.

"Yeah and I have some too meatbags," Seventeen nodded.

"Oh Seventeen, Eighteen, it's nice to see you again," Bulma smiled at the androids who glared back at her. "Right, still under Dr. Gero's programming." Realizing that they were likely still killers.

"Uh yeah, we should do something about that maybe, you know destroy them," Trunks nudged his head towards the androids while looking at Gohan.

The black-haired half-saiyan just shrugged. "Well we don't have to kill them. I mean, after you left they turned out to be okay. I mean saving them from Cell probably had something to do with it, but..." Gohan trailed off as he was trying to think about how he'd explain that little bit of information.

"Anyway," Gohan turned back to Bulma, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. "Is there a way for you to contact your future self and maybe the two of you can finish that time machine and send everyone back?"

Bulma hummed for a bit. "Maybe," she guessed. "Honey," addressing her son. "Can you take me to me so I can talk to me?"

Trunks shook his head for a moment. "So long as you never phrase a sentence like that ever again, sure." Picking up his mother bridal style and heading back out.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I made a pass at you?" Bulma smirked.

"MOM?!" Trunks' voice could be heard even from the distance he had already gotten from the lab.

Gohan wrapped his hands behind his head and whistled. "Man, today is a weird day," he commented as he turned around and remembered he still had his classroom and the androids in the room with him. "Right, wow I keep forgetting about you guys."

"Answers," Eighteen said as she aimed an energy ball at Gohan's head again.

"Ugh fine Eighteen," Gohan exclaimed loudly. "Geez, okay, so like ten or eleven years ago, depending on how you view it, Trunks, the kid who left came back in a time machine to tell us about Dr. Gero, some details got missed and you two woke up. There was a lot of fighting, mostly because the two of you from our timeline were stronger than you two. So we got stronger, then another android that Dr. Gero made named Cell showed up, he absorbed you both, achieved his perfect form, declared some stupid tournament for the fate of the world, my dad fought him, then made me fight him. I beat him but didn't kill him, he threatened to blow himself up, my dad died taking him away from Earth. Cell survived the fight, came back, I killed him and then, well you became a park ranger," pointing to Seventeen. "And you married Krillin and had a daughter." Pointing to Eighteen. "Then I dunno, I messed up a time machine and now we're here."

Silence fell over the room after Gohan finished his very abridged retelling of the events that transpired with the Androids. Before slowly a voice started to laugh from the group. Videl pushed her way through the other students, holding her stomach. "Oh my god, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," she wiped a tear from her eye. "My dad beat Cell and all of this is probably some weird hologram made by Ms. Briefs to mess with us. I mean, we just saw you fly and stuff."

"Oh no, that was all real Videl," Gohan shrugged as he lifted off the floor. "I mean it's hard to digest, but really that's what happened... or will happen now?" Gohan said curiously as he wondered how things would go.

A moment later Seventeen shook his head. "That's it killing all of you," he declared as he turned his hand onto the students, but the swift intervention of Gohan had his hand angled up.

"I'd really prefer not having to kill you," Gohan sighed. "So I get that you are both still under Gero's control but try and keep it together until Bulma can fix you."

"You mean mind control us!" Eighteen shouted at the half-saiyan.

"No, I mean deprogram you," Gohan shook his head before he snapped his fingers. "Override Seventeen code twelve dash zero dash omega," he said firmly before he noticed that Seventeen stood stock still, his eyes flickering a light.

"What did you do?" Eighteen screamed as she saw the change in her brother.

"I just remembered that code from when Bulma was helping you guys a few years ago, seems that Gero left some things behind that he could use and would trigger once your objective to kill my dad was completed." Gohan answered. "So do you believe me now that Dr. Gero put some stuff in your head?" Gohan asked. "Actually what were your names again, Topaz and Quartz, no no, Lepidolite and Jasper? Ahaha," Gohan finally remembered the names for the androids. "Lapis and Lazuli. That was it."

"Wait," Eighteen suddenly clutched her head in pain. "Those names."

Gohan smiled and nodded. "Those were your names before Gero abducted you two. We figured them out finally but after so many years you just kept going by the numbers."

"Okay fine," Eighteen said after getting her bearings again. "I believe you. That old geezer did something to us and maybe we'll let you deprogram whatever he put in us. But only that, you hear me," Eighteen warned.

Gohan grinned. "Yup, I promise, nothing more than taking out what he put in."

* * *

"So Gohan's alive," Future Bulma said as she looked at her younger self, their discussion had been fairly brief, pun intended, when Trunks showed up with a past version of herself.

"Yup, we dealt with the androids in our time, then a bit of a mishap and now we're here, so..." Bulma popped her lips. "Let's fix ourselves a time machine?"

Future Bulma sighed. "I guess," the older blue haired woman spun her chair around. "Trunks go get Gohan and his, urgh, high school classmates."

"Why'd you say it like that mom?" Trunks asked as he didn’t know why his mom said the word high school like it was pure venom in her mouth.

"High school sucked," both Bulma's said over their shoulders as they began to get to work on drawing up plans for how this would have to go down.

* * *

Realizing that they couldn't fly everyone that far without taking numerous trips, the group found themselves walking through the desolated ruins of West City. The group of students taking in the sights of destruction around them as they could see and in some cases smell the carnage as many dead bodies were littering the area. "If this is a hologram Videl, it's a bit too real," Erasa gulped as she saw what looked like a family of rotting corpses huddled together.

"I... it has to be a prank," Videl took deep breaths to try and keep herself calm as the class moved through the city. "It just has to be or else, or else." The group came to a halt when Gohan stopped suddenly in the middle of the street.

"Oh that's where you are," Gohan suddenly said as he turned a hateful gaze onto the corner of a building. "Come out now Cell, I can sense you," Gohan shouted angrily into the shadows.

Cell hissed as he stomped out of the darkness. "How did you know I was there?" Cell questioned as he’d been sure his power level was low enough to not be sensed.

"I'd never forget you," Gohan growled as his hair whipped up and in an instant flaring from it's solid black to a magnificent golden shine. "I'll be right back after I take out some well placed aggression." Gohan said to the group as he charged the terrified bio-android who could feel that Gohan's power outstripped his own by many magnitudes.

It was almost grotesque watching Gohan brutally rip apart the green bug man, as everyone could hear Cell's screams of pain and agony before a massive blast of energy vaporized him and Gohan came back over with a contented smile. "God damn did that feel good." Powering down, Gohan shivered a bit from not having done any real fighting or even using the Super Saiyan form since his first day at class.

"Wait a minute, that gold hair," Videl said, recognizing Gohan immediately.

"Oh my gosh," Erasa squealed as she ran over. "You're the Gold Fighter," hopping up and down excitedly at meeting the infamous vigilante that had been the topic on everyone’s tongue lately.

Gohan remembered that he had been trying to keep that under wraps but then realized that none of that really mattered with the whole time travel thing going on. "Yeah, I was trying to keep it a secret, but I guess that's pointless now." He shrugged as Erasa was asking him numerous questions about his hair.

“So anyway, I’m the Gold Fighter. I figured it would hide my identity a bit when I caught some criminals that I passed on my way to school,” Gohan said nonchalantly.

“And because of that you decided to become some goody goody superhero?” Eighteen snorted in amusement that this young man was a huge dork. “What did you also have a superhero name picked out for yourself?” She smirked before the blonde android saw Gohan blush. “Oh my god you did, what was it?”

“The Great Saiyaman,” Gohan finally said quietly after a few moments of awkward silence.

“That is so lame,” Videl laughed. “What’s a Saiyaman anyway?”

“Well it was based on saiyan, which is what I am,” Gohan rubbed his arm nervously.

“The hell’s a saiyan?” Sharpener asked annoyed that Gohan was getting all the attention.

“A race of alien warriors, well to be perfectly honest I’m only half saiyan, my dad’s a pure saiyan,” Gohan replied to the question.

“Bullshit,” Seventeen flipped his hair. “You mean to tell us that you’re some kind of outer space man?”

“I was born on Earth you know. But I have been to space, that was… a trip,” Gohan replied as he recalled his adventure to Namek. “I mean it,” he whined as he saw that no one besides Trunks believed him and that was because Trunks was also a half-saiyan. “Come on, what do I have to do to prove it. I don’t have a tail anymore so I can’t turn into an Ozaru.”

“And what’s that, something like a werewolf?” Videl chuckled.

Gohan sighed. “Kind of, if a werewolf was a fifty foot tall giant ape that breathed laser beams.”

“You are so fucking with us,” Eighteen shook her head. “Are you just making this all up as you go along?”

“No I’m serious,” Gohan whined as he was so used to talking to people who knew what had happened in the past.

Trunks touched down not soon after to see that Gohan had a sullen look on his face as people were teasing him. “I feel like I missed a lot.” the teen commented as he looked between the humans, his past timeline mentor and the androids who he hated.

“Can we just go,” Gohan said with a sigh. “Sooner we can get out of this timeline the better.”

* * *

After a few more minutes of travel they arrived at Bulma’s bunker. “Bulma, they won’t stop picking on me,” Gohan complained as he and the group of people.

“Tough, that’s what high schools like,” Future Bulma said over her shoulder as she and her past self wired together parts for the time machine. She turned to look at the group of people that her son said was here when she froze upon seeing the androids walk in behind them all. Her breathing increased rapidly as this was her worst nightmare, that they had managed to find the bunker after all this time.

“Okay meatbags, you keep up your end of the bargain and remove Gero’s programming from us and we’ll let you live,” Seventeen demanded as after he’d rebooted Eighteen explained that Gero did more to them than they had thought and that Bulma Briefs could undo it.

“Wait what programming?” Future Bulma questioned as she looked at her counterpart, as she was latching onto anything to not have a full on panic attack at seeing the twin terrors within twenty feet of herself.

Present Bulma snapped her fingers a few times. “Oh yeah, Gero input some code into the androids to make them compliant, but in our timeline you two killed him before he could activate it, but some of that was time reliant and started to act up and you both came to me to get it out of you.” Recalling when Eighteen and Seventeen had shown up in the dead of night to have her fix their problem.

“Well the time machine is almost ready, so if you could do that, I’ll get things ready to send you all back to the past.” Future Bulma suggested as she turned back to the table so she didn’t have to look at the androids and to also hide the tremors going through her body.

“I still think you should come back with us,” Present Bulma said. Future Bulma hesitated at the offer. “ I mean it, there’s nothing here for you and who knows where Cell is.”

“He’s dead Bulma, we found him on the way over.” Gohan said as he leaned against a wall as he looked around the bunker. “He probably felt my power level and came because he thought it’d be a nice meal, but didn’t know how to hide his own. He was in his first form and at his weakest.”

“I bet that was cathartic,” Present Bulma chuckled as she could imagine Gohan enjoying killing Cell again.

“It did feel good,” Gohan smirked. “But what’s this about them coming with us?” Gohan inquired as he wanted to hear Bulma’s plan.

“Well…” Bulma said as she got Seventeen and Eighteen to lie down on a table, before connecting a laptop to a port on the back of their necks. “There’s no one here, from what Trunks told us when he came back to the past was that these two had killed most of the planet, and anyone else Cell got since he was attacking any clusters of people living in bunkers around the world to get stronger. He’d guessed that there were maybe a few thousand people total left alive on the planet.” Bulma closed her eyes sadly as she knew what that meant.

“That’s not enough of a population to continue the species,” Future Bulma finished, she hadn’t even heard of this Cell until just now but since she didn’t believe that her past self was making things up then most of the people that had managed to go into hiding from the androids were also killed off by this new person. “And we’d only be prolonging the inevitable since there’s no way to get everyone together to even try, food is scarce and…” Future Bulma shivered as she’d always known that the world was ending in this timeline, that was why she put so much work into the time machine. Any hope she had of fixing this world was ripped away from her as she knew now that this planet and timeline were completely doomed.

“Then come back with us,” Gohan said to Future Trunks and Bulma as he saw that as the obvious answer. “We stopped the androids and Cell in the past, our world is fine, you can have actual lives there.” Not wanting to leave his friends in a world like this if he didn’t have to.

“Gohan,” Future Bulma sighed as she tried to keep her emotions in check. “You were supposed to be our last hope in this horrible world and when you died, I was worried it was all lost.” The older blue haired woman started to sob. “But now you showed back up to save us again,” she was smiling as tears streamed down her cheeks staring at the young man who was throwing her a lifeline that she desperately needed.

“Hey can we get in on this whole leaving a doomed planet behind or is that only for people with funny hair colors?” Seventeen asked as he sat up from the table. He could feel something was different in his head, like a constant buzzing was gone.

“You monsters did this to the world, why the hell should you be allowed the chance to go to another and do it again!” Trunks shouted in anger at the arrogance of Seventeen's request. That they shouldn’t be left to rot in this world alone for what they did.

“In our timeline they never did this because we were able to stop them,” Gohan countered as he saw this timeline of the androids the same as he did his own, as friends. “And without Gero’s programming they won’t be pushed to keep killing and we can use the dragon balls to take the nuclear bombs he installed out of them.”

“THE WHAT?!” Eighteen screeched in shock as she looked down at herself in horror. “He put a nuke inside us?”

“Yeah that was supposed to be his ultimate control over you both, if you didn’t do as he said and tried to resist his orders to kill people or even tried to warn people, he’d have detonated the bombs and taken you and everyone else around you out in an instant,” Bulma confirmed as she had gone through Sixteen’s programming and found the plans stored in his head. “You would never have had a choice if he was still alive. You would either be murdering because he told you to or you’d have been a weapon that he could detonate on a city.”

“Fuck me.” Seventeen whistled. “That was one sick mother fucker, and past us managed to kill him? Makes me want to go and buy myself a beer.”

“Look, Trunks I know it’s awful, but we can all just leave this horrible timeline behind,” Gohan said as he understood Trunks’ frustration.

“No, maybe...” Future Bulma cut in as she tossed a screwdriver onto the table. “You both need to leave. I can’t… I can’t have you both here when I’m trying to work!” she screamed at the androids who at least had the decency to flinch back at her sudden outburst. Just having the androids around her was preventing her from concentrating when every thought was about how to get her son away from them even if she wasn’t able to.

The androids headed towards the door before Gohan stopped them. “Give us a few days, we’ve kind of just showed up and this is a lot to take in. I don’t want to leave anyone behind if I don’t have to.” He said to the androids as he couldn’t help but see the ones he had spent years getting to know in place of the ones he knew were mass murderers.

With the androids gone, the tense atmosphere was eased somewhat and Trunks was able to show the high school students further into the bunker where they could stay out of the way for the time being.

* * *

That night after everyone of the students had been taken somewhere else in the bunker to try and get some sleep, Present Bulma was conked out over a worktable while Trunks who had tried to stay awake to spend as much time with Gohan and his past mom as possible was passed out in a corner.

Stopping her work for the night, Future Bulma noticed that surprisingly she wasn’t the only one still awake and it also happened to be the person she wanted to talk to the most. “Hey, Gohan,” Future Bulma said quietly to not wake up her son or herself. “Can we talk somewhere privately?”

“Sure Bulma,” Gohan said as he left the room with Future Bulma, as the two left the workshop to go into a different part of the bunker, passing by rooms with sleeping high school students and half finished projects. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” He asked as he looked at her, wondering what she had to say.

As the pair walked through the dimly lit corridors Future Bulma was wringing her hands nervously as she tried to find out the best way to express her request. “Gohan,” Future Bulma finally said as she grabbed Gohan’s hand. “I… god this is so messed up,” she said sadly as she turned away and tried to go away before she was stopped when Gohan put his hand on her shoulder.

“Bulma what’s wrong?” Gohan said concerned as he knew something had to be bugging the woman for her to want to talk to him and that she couldn’t say it meant it was really important.

She wanted to run back to the workshop and continue building the time machine, anything to avoid having this conversation now. “Gohan, when I last saw you. You were strong, a warrior, you made me believe that this nightmare would finally end and then you died and I lost all hope. Now you’re here again and it’s a second chance, my second chance to to… believe that things are going to get better.” Bulma pulled at her hair as she felt like a mess. “I’ve been alone for so long and for the first time this year, I’m feeling hope. You are making me hopeful and I just need to know this is real,” turning to face Gohan as she stared into his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I’m just so fucking scared that I’m going to wake up and that this has all been a dream, that it’s still just me and Trunks trying to survive in this hell.”

Hearing her vent her frustrations and fears caused Gohan to wrap his arms around the distraught woman as if he could protect her from all the bad thoughts just by holding her. “I am here Bulma and this is real. I promise.” He whispered as he stroked her hair as he hoped that his touch would help ease her worries.

“I’m so tired Gohan, but I’m too afraid to go to sleep,” Future Bulma wept as Gohan began to sway back and forth while she felt all the exhaustion from the day finally hit her like a freight train.

“I swear on my life Bulma this is real,” Gohan rested his chin on her head. He was no genius but he could tell that this version of his friend suffered greatly over the years and would need a lot of help to get better.

They stayed in the silence of the hallway, as Bulma drank in the warm embrace Gohan was giving her that she so desperately needed. “Sleep with me,” Future Bulma requested of Gohan finally after working up the courage to ask. “Make this real.”

“Buh-Bulma,” Gohan said in shock. “We can’t do-”

“I’m not asking you to fuck me, god you’re just like your dad,” Future Bulma chuckled as she shook her head into Gohan’s chest. “I just need the first thing I see when I wake up to be you to know this is all real, please, I’m begging you,” Bulma pulled Gohan tightly against her as she felt that if he pulled away she’d fall forever.

“Of course Bulma,” Gohan relented as he couldn’t think of any possible reason not to do this for her. “I’ll stay with you tonight.” Picking her up and carrying her into the room she directed him to. She was out cold before he’d even gotten the blanket over her as he laid down on the mattress next to her. It was not the first time he’d slept in the same bed as her, as on the trip to Namek they shared quarters at times, mostly because he was six years old and had nightmares, so if this was his way to repay her for being there when he was scared, then Gohan would gladly do so. He knew he had done the right thing when he felt Bulma roll over and grab onto him tightly as she hugged his body for comfort before he too drifted off to get some rest.

Future Bulma woke at the same time she always did, but instead of getting out of bed she clenched her eyes shut and rubbed her hand around the lump she felt next to her on the mattress. “Yes Bulma it’s me,” Gohan said as he woke up when she started to move around.

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of Gohan’s voice and the dread that had been gripping her washed away upon seeing the past Gohan laying in bed with her. “Oh god,” she cried out happily as she buried her face into the crook of his arm. “We’re actually saved, this nightmare is almost over,” she sobbed as Gohan was a lifeline to a world where survival wasn’t the top priority.

“It is Bulma,” Gohan smiled as he rubbed her back gently as he let her cry out her fears.

* * *

When they arrived back at the workshop everything stopped once it was seen that they came in the room together. “Hey everyone,” Gohan waved to his classmates who were milling about as they didn’t really have anything to do while they waited.

“Gohan!” Trunks shouted in surprise as his mother was missing when he woke up and he didn’t know where either of the two had went. “Where did you go, where was my mother?” He frantically asked as he looked between the two of them.

Future Bulma shook her head with a smile, the first genuine smile in weeks as she found her son’s reaction hilarious. “Gohan and I were just sleeping, I’m not so young that I can pass out on a table like I used to,” pointing to her past counterpart who had done just that.

“Together?!” Was the outcry from the high school students, causing Past Bulma to spit out her morning coffee at the implications the high schoolers had jumped too.

Past Bulma tilted her head as she looked between her future self and Gohan as she tried to figure out who made the first move.

“Are you… I didn’t fuck him god! Why is that everyone’s first assumption?” Future Bulma shouted as she did not think her comments warranted such a reaction. “We slept, I cannot believe I’m helping any of you go back to your timeline,” she grumbled as she went back to working on the time machine as she would be glad when that was done.

However Gohan could see that he needed to step in to clear some things up before people got the wrong idea. “Hey come on, she’s been through a lot okay,” Gohan said as he glared at everyone else in the room. “She had to watch as for twenty years everyone she knew and loved die while the world fell apart around her.” Hoping that putting into context how many horrors she would have seen would be enough to justify wanting some comfort for a night.

“But she’s never been like this?” Trunks said as he didn’t understand why his mom’s mood had changed so drastically in such a short amount of time.

“Trunks, we aren’t human, not fully,” Gohan turned to the purple haired teen as he knew where the confusion was coming from. “Saiyans are a warrior race, death, carnage and destruction don’t affect us the same way. Bulma even checked me out after Namek.” As she had been concerned about his mental health from everything he’d gone through on the alien world. “We don’t get things like ptsd or go through trauma the same way a human does, because our brains are wired differently so it’s processed in a way that the human brain couldn’t handle. And you grew up in this world, this is normal for you. She didn’t, she grew up with friends and going on fun adventures with my dad, working on science projects with her dad and dating people.”

“So why the change?” Trunks asked as he wasn’t really getting it.

“Us arriving reminds her of those times and it’s playing hell on her mentality that she had to create to stay alive in this world,” Gohan answered.

“Jeez,” Present Bulma whistled as she hadn’t really considered how this place would have messed with her over the two decades of seeing it fall apart, but it made sense that she’d have developed some psychosis and a sudden change like them showing up would be messing with her head. “When did you get so smart?” She asked as she never figured Gohan for the psychology type.

“I read through the entire psychology course books mom got for me a few years back, not like I had much to do after Cell besides study.” Gohan shrugged as he figured that was a good enough answer as any.

“And Bulma you’ve been my friend pretty much since I was born, and to see you hurting like that, even if it’s a different you. I just had to do what was needed and she needed to know that the rug wasn’t going to be pulled out from underneath her.”

“So just,” Gohan sighed as he returned to the main topic. “Don’t anybody get on her case, it’s not fair.”

Bulma was impressed with how much care Gohan was treating her future self, but that just made her think he was a lot like his father, with how he always went out of his way to make people feel safe and happy. Gohan got nods from the rest of his classmates before moving to get himself some breakfast as Bulma moved into the workshop with her future self.

* * *

While the two blue haired geniuses worked Gohan was pretty much relegated to keeping his class and Trunks occupied, so he told them stories about his life and the adventures he had gone on. “And that’s when Vegeta got killed by Frieza,” Gohan said as he was wrapping up the story of Namek.

“My dad died? Before he was killed by the androids?” Trunks questioned as the Gohan that mentored him never really told him these stories, but then again most of their time spent together was dedicated solely to training.

“Jesus,” Sharpener whistled as he was amazed by the amount of crap that Gohan had to put up with while growing up.

“I know, these last few years have been the easiest, since no one has shown up that I’ve had to fight,” Gohan sighed as he was enjoying the chance to relax for once without the earth being threatened. “Hmm, honestly I’ve probably gotten weaker because I haven’t been training,” he realized.

“Well I’m free if you wanted someone to spar with,” Trunks offered as he’d love to have a chance to train some more with his mentor.

“Great,” Gohan smiled as he headed towards the door. “I hope I haven’t gotten too sloppy,” he said as he pulled off his shirt as he stepped outside.

“It can’t be that…” Erasa stopped as she began to drool as she took in the sight of the shirtless young man. “So much muscle,” she wiped her lip as everyone in her class watched Gohan stretch.

“Alright Gohan,” Trunks’ hair spiked up as he turned into a super saiyan. “I’m ready when you are.”

Gohan smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest and began to power up. “Been a while since I had to do this,” he commented as he began to yell as the ground shook beneath him. His hair flickered between black and an almost pure white as he went beyond a grade one super saiyan and into the full powered form.

“Holy,” Trunks said as he felt Gohan power rocket past his own, he was now nervous as he knew there was a gap between him and the Gohan that had died, but he didn’t expect this gap to be that large.

“Just got to,” Gohan grunted as he pushed himself further as sparks began to wrap around his body. As everyone stared on in shock as Gohan went being the normal super saiyan and into his ascended form even those who could not sense power were able to tell the difference between the two fighters. The next moment Gohan became a blur as he launched himself at the other super saiyan.

Trunks was pretty much on the backheel the entire time as Gohan’s power was overwhelming and it took all of his concentration to not get pounded into the dirt, but thankfully Gohan had enough selfcontrol to know that Trunks was losing so he pulled back. “Sorry,” Gohan chuckled as he held out a hand for Trunks to pull himself off the ground with. “Got a little carried away.”

“Not it’s amazing, you’re so powerful,” Trunks shook his head as he was impressed by how much power Gohan had at his disposal and it made him think about how much training he’d have to put in to achieve it for himself.

After a little spar between the two saiyans, Trunks had Gohan go with him to get more supplies since they had so many extra mouths to feed. The hours would tick by as everyone just tried to find things to occupy the time before they headed to bed. Like the night before Gohan was used as a body pillow by Future Bulma who would only sleep when she was able to hold onto Gohan.

* * *

It took a few days but finally both Bulma’s were sure that the time machine they had built together would work to send everyone back to the past. Gohan left to get both Seventeen and Eighteen. “Once they are back in the past, then we can decide what to do with them, rather than leave them here without anyone supervising them.” He said as he could tell that Trunks would prefer to forget about the androids all together.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Future Bulma whispered as she kept Gohan between herself and the androids.

“I can’t think of a better one,” he gave an awkward smile as he knew that didn’t mean the idea was any good. “But at least, we’ll have Vegeta and Piccolo around and they’re both stronger, and Dende made a new set of dragon balls that we can use just in case.”

The notion of having Shenron again did help ease her tension as well as knowing there were people strong enough to take on the androids if this had all been a trick. “Okay Gohan,” Future Bulma sighed. “I’m trusting you.” Holding his arm tightly as she flipped the switch on the time machine that would send them back to the past.

* * *

A bright flash of light engulfed the group and after it died down, they could see they were in the Capsule Corp workshop. “Did it work?” Videl gulped as she wouldn’t have liked to go to a different timeline, she wanted to go home.

“Woman!” Vegeta shouted as he stomped into the lab we he felt Gohan and his wife’s power level suddenly vanish, the high school students he couldn’t really give a shit about, but when those two suddenly disappeared that made him think something was up, then a few minutes later they had come back along with another high power level he decided it was time to go investigate.

“Yup,” Bulma smiled as she sauntered over to her husband. “Look who we found,” pointing to her future son and self.

Vegeta looked confused between an older copy of his wife and the version of his son he’d met a few years back. “And the androids are here now too?” he questioned as he only really saw the blonde one when the bald monk came around.

“Future Androids, long story,” Bulma chuckled as she turned to the students. “Class dismissed, go home everyone.” she waved as the high school students began to depart from the lab, glad to be back in the present.

Future Bulma however recognized her lab from before it had to be abandoned. “Is it-?” she said as she went over to a side door and stepped outside to look out onto the cityscape where the sounds of traffic and civilians could be heard. “It is, we’re back,” Future Bulma fell to her knees and cried tears of joy that the nightmare was finally over.

Gohan carefully knelt down next to Future Bulma on the lawn and patted her on the shoulder. “I told you, we’d get you home,” he said as the woman latched onto him tightly and wept happily. 


	2. Back to the Past

Finally after Future Bulma managed to get control over herself, Gohan led her back into the lab where Present Bulma was telling Vegeta what had happened when they got to the future.

“This is great and all but, what exactly do we do now?” Seventeen asked since he and his sister were kind of just standing around.

“Don’t know to be honest” Bulma shrugged. “Oh, I’ll call Krillin so he and Eighteen can come get you, she talks to Seventeen all the time. They’ll know how to handle themselves.” Picking up the handset and dialing her friend.

Eighteen shook her head. “Ok wow, that sentence gave me a headache.”

“Yeah, I need you and Eighteen to come to Capsule Corp to pick up a couple of friends,” Bulma said on the phone while she walked around her lab seeming just falling back into work.

“Hey dad?” Trunks called out as he entered the lab, which is where he could sense his parents energy. “Oh hey Gohan, Eighteen, Seventeen,” he said to the people he recognized before stopping at the two new people. “You kind of look like my mom?” Trunks said because Future Bulma was familiar to him.

Future Bulma was enamored by the sight of her son so young again. “Because I am your mom,” she answered happily which caused Trunks to look at her funny.

“No, my mom is over there,” pointing to the Bulma that was on the phone.

“I’m her from the future.” Future Bulma smiled at her son’s confused face. “And this is you from the future,” introducing her son to himself.

“Oh wicked, I remember the story mom told me about that,” Trunks said hurrying over to his older self. “Did you really die?”

“WHAT?!” Future Trunks shouted. “I died too?!” He looked horrified up at his parents because he felt that comment deserved an explanation.

“Boys!” Vegeta shouted which got both of his son’s attention. “We’re going to the gravity chamber.” He commanded his children to follow him as he stomped out of the room, with a second chance at his future son, he’d do things right this time around.

Without much of a chance to argue, those with purple hair followed their father out of the room and that only left an awkward silence with Bulma being the only one making noise as she continued to talk into the phone while she worked.

Finally after what seemed like ages, the door to the lab opened and a blonde woman walked in. “Oh what the hell is this?” Eighteen scoffed at seeing other versions of herself and her brother.

“Neat,” Krillin said with a grin, looking at the copies of his wife and brother in law. “How’d you pull this off?” He asked eagerly just knowing there was an entertaining story behind this.

Unfortunately for Future Bulma, seeing an additional android was proving to be too much for her. “Gohan, get me out of here,” she pulled on Gohan’s sleeve roughly, terrified now that they were outnumbered.

“Oh right,” Gohan realized why she was panicking with the Present Eighteen’s arrival. “Sorry Krillin, Bulma will fill you in, I need to take Bulma out of here. It was nice seeing you,” he waved his friends goodbye while he hurried the older woman outside.

“Wait was that?” Krillin scratched his head in confusion at seeing a second Bulma. “Oh well.” He shrugged after a moment then focused on the two new androids. “So, want to hear a joke?” Giving a goofy grin at the other Seventeen and Eighteen who did not look amused.

“And you married this guy?” Future Eighteen asked herself.

Eighteen smirked and ruffled her husband’s hair. “We have a child together.”

* * *

Gohan once he got Bulma out of the lab, picked her up in his arms and flew off the ground. With how tightly she was holding onto him he didn’t have to worry about her falling. “Come on we’ll go see mom, she’ll make you some tea,” he suggested while heading towards the Paozu Mountains.

“It’s so green,” Bulma finally said after a few minutes of flying. “It’s not all destroyed,” she was amazed that she had forgotten how much nature there had been in the world.

“Yeah,” Gohan agreed while bringing them lower to the ground as they passed over a lake that he liked to fish in so that Bulma could see into the clear water. “Everything is going to turn out just fine this time Bulma,” Gohan promised as he came to a stop outside his house. “Hey mom, I brought a guest,” he called out as he opened the door for Bulma.

“Gohan you’re home early,” Chi-Chi called out in surprise because she hadn’t expected her eldest son back from school quite so soon. “Oh Bulma,” Chi-Chi smiled at the family friend before she noticed some details about the blue haired woman she was friends with. “Wait… I knew it,” Chi-Chi grinned like she had just found out some juicy gossip. “I knew you were older than you looked, forty-one my ass.”

“Mom!” Gohan cried out in shock. “This is Bulma from the future?” He couldn’t believe that his mom just called the fifty-four year old woman old. Plus he didn’t think she looked that old to him maybe a wrinkle or two there but she looked more like a refined beauty, like a properly aged wine.

“Future? Gohan did you time travel?!” Chi-Chi asked furiously, piecing together the unsaid words from her son.

“Yes but can Bulma have some tea? She’s been through a lot and I think having some time to relax is something she’s more than well earned.” Gohan asked his mother because right now his priority would be to help ease Bulma back into the past, he’d accept whatever random punishment his mother concocts later.

“So Gohan stopped the androids and this Cell guy?” Bulma inquired while she was trying to keep her hand steady after hearing the play by play of what happened when she or an even more future version of herself had succeeded in sending her son back into the past.

“Yeah and it only cost me my dad’s life because I was an idiot and wanted to toy around with that fucking bug instead of killing him when I had the chance to,” Gohan muttered as he sat with his mom and Bulma as they chatted.

“Oh Gohan I’m sure it wasn’t,” Bulma tried to console the young man who seemed to be struggling with feelings of guilt.

“It was Bulma,” Gohan interrupted. “I got too confident with my power and instead of getting myself killed, dad paid the price for me.” He’d been furious with himself for years about his mistake. “I need to go…” He said as he got up from the table, his short time in the future had settled a decision he wasn’t sure how to make for himself. But seeing the desolated world that was on the brink of annihilation showed him how bad things could get if they didn’t have someone strong enough to protect humanity and the Earth.

Bulma let out a sad sigh when she heard the door shut and the familiar sound of someone flying off. “Trunks was like that sometimes, especially after Gohan died,” she quietly said as she clutched her cup of tea. “He felt so guilty all the time about not being strong enough to protect others.”

“How did… How did my son die?” Chi-Chi nervously asked.

“The androids were tearing up another city and Gohan went to go and try to stop them. Trunks wanted to go with him, thinking that he could help. From what Trunks told me, he just got in the way instead.” Bulma’s body shuddered as she felt another wave of terror just thinking about the androids and the future she had just come from.

“Was it really that bad?” Chi-Chi inquired, she never got involved with what went on anymore and as a result didn’t interact with people like Vegeta or Piccolo all too often.

Bulma bit her lip hard, she wanted to tell her that it wasn’t that bad but she also saw her friend’s mangled corpse after the androids got through torturing her. “You uh… at least you never gave them any information,” she cringed, hoping that would be enough.

“Wow,” Chi-Chi whistled as she understood what her blue-haired friend meant by that. “It doesn't sound like it was easy.”

“It was hell Chi-Chi, if god forbid Trunks never came home one day I… I had a gun just in case,” Bulma replied solemnly. “But then Gohan showed up and,” she blinked back tears. “God it still doesn’t feel real, like I’m just going to wake up and be slumped over my workshop and this would all have been a dream. It’s getting late, I should go.” Bulma said looking at the setting sun on the horizon.

“I’ll call uh Bulma, she can send Vegeta to come get you,” Chi-Chi offered as she went over to the phone to dial Capsule Corp.

* * *

Later that night Bulma was tossing and turning in the bedroom her younger self had shown her too. She woke up suddenly with a shriek of terror and that resulted in loud footsteps and the door practically exploded into dust as three super saiyans burst into the room looking for a threat.

The past Bulma caught up a moment later and pushed through her husband and children to climb on the bed and get close to her older self. “What’s wrong? Did someone try to get in?”

“Help. I can’t… breath,” Future Bulma wheezed as she clung to her past self, in seconds she was reduced to sobbing against her younger self’s nightgown.

* * *

Gohan groaned as he heard the telephone ringing and looked at his clock to see that it was still the dead of night. “Who is calling at this hour?” Gohan grumbled as he shuffled out of his room to get to the phone. “Hello…. Bulma? I- I’ll be right there.” He said firmly as he slipped on a jacket and headed to the door.

“Gohan?” Chi-Chi rubbed her eyes as she came out of her room. “Where are you going at this hour?”

“Something happened at Capsule Corp and Bulma needs me err, Future Bulma, but Our Bulma called and said that Future Bulma… it’s complicated I’ll just see you in the morning.” Gohan said as he wasn’t awake enough to explain the situation to his mother.

* * *

“Follow me Kakabrat,” Vegeta nudged his head into the building when Gohan touched down and led Gohan through the home part of Capsule Corp to where the future version of his wife was waiting.

“What happened Vegeta? From what Bulma told me it sounded bad?” Gohan asked, hoping that Vegeta could give him some more information to go off of.

“See for yourself,” Vegeta pointed into the room to see this timeline’s Bulma trying to console her older counterpart to no avail.

“Bulma, hey, what’s wrong?” Gohan said as he sat down on the mattress. In an instant the older Bulma latched onto him tightly. “Oh jeez,” he wheezed, not having prepared himself to be grabbed onto.

“Sorry, I just,” the older Bulma whispered. “I just needed something.”

“Okay well, I’m here now. Is there some way I can help?” Gohan offered, wondering what he could do that the Brief’s couldn’t.

“Stay with me tonight, like last time.” Older Bulma requested, needed that extra sense of security to keep her sanity together.

“Last time?” Vegeta questioned that with a raised eyebrow.

Gohan chuckled nervously. “Just uh, coping mechanism I think.”

“Mmhm,” Vegeta hummed curiously at the sight of an older version of his wife clinging onto the son of his rival. “I’ll see you in the morning Gohan and we can discuss this “coping mechanism” further.”

As soon as the door shut Vegeta turned on his wife and older son, who didn’t seem too surprised by what was happening. “So what’s all that about?”

“Gohan kind of gave everyone a talking too when we were in the future, apparently mom err, you err…” Trunks stumbled over his words a bit as he pointed to the past version of his mother.

“Yeah I get it.” Bulma urged her son along.

“Well anyway, we’re saiyans dad, even if me and Gohan are half-saiyans, our brains just don’t think the same way, so things like survivors guilt or ptsd don’t exactly stick like they do with humans.” Trunks summarized what Gohan had talked to them about.

Vegeta gave a grunt of understanding as he knew the basic biological difference between two alien species enough to know that despite humans and saiyans being compatible that just the way they thought was different.

“Yeah some of the other students also thought that mom and Gohan were sleeping together like… that,” Trunk blushed as the thought of his mom doing that was embarrassing to think about.

After that comment, Vegeta tossed his hands up not wanting to hear anymore of it and ordered his sons back to bed as he and Bulma went back to their room.

* * *

Gohan’s eyes flickered open when he felt the sun’s rays shining on his face through the window slats. “Uh, when did the sun start rising in the South?” Gohan grumbled as he tried to sit up only to feel a weight on his chest. “What the?” looking down and seeing a head of blue hair and feeling the soft, shapely body attached to it pressing against himself. “Oh, right.” He said as he leaned back and accepted that he wasn’t really going anywhere until Bulma woke up.

He didn’t have to wait very long before Bulma lifted her head up to stair into Gohan’s face before looking around the room. “It’s true isn’t it?” she quietly asked as she sat up, clutching the soft sheets to her body.

“What’s true?” Gohan asked as he sat on his elbows.

“This is all real, we came back to the past and I never have to worry about the androids ever again?” She wiped tears from her eyes as she stared out the window onto the shining city.

“It is real Bulma, I promise,” Gohan said before he looked at the clock. “Oh crap, I’m going to be late for school,” he shouted as he flung himself off the mattress. “I don’t have anything, I still need to eat, I’m so getting detention for this.”

“Gohan, have breakfast with us, it’s the least I can offer you for making you come all the way over last night,” Bulma said with a smile, one of the first real one’s she’d been able to make in the last decade and a half.

“I couldn’t, I have to,” Gohan pointed to the door just as it opened and Vegeta stood in the doorway.

“Come on brat, we’re having breakfast, then you can get out,” Vegeta ordered as he stalked down the hallway.

“Well you heard Mister Grumpy,” Bulma smirked having won that particular argument.

* * *

Gohan felt awkward sitting at the table with everyone else, because he just wasn’t sure what to do with himself. “I hope the clothes stayed on last night,” present Bulma said with a wink causing her older son and Gohan to choke on their food.

“Buh-Bulma,” Gohan wheezed after managing to not die from her comment.

“Mom?!” Trunks exclaimed in shock at what he just heard.

Future Bulma only had a faint blush that went mostly unnoticed, mostly.

“Well I uh, I have to get to school and it’s a long flight back home,” Gohan nervously chuckled as he hurried out of the building and even turned super saiyan to pick up speed so he could get further away from Capsule Corp faster.

Stepping into his classroom was almost as awkward as coming home, but at least in that case he could say that he was running late and he ate at Bulma’s before trying to make up for lost time, but even with his super speed, he arrived at class over an hour late. The moment he stepped into the room, everything became eerily quiet.

“Mr. Son, I uh, glad to see you were able to join us today,” the teacher nervously acknowledged the young man’s entrance.

“Sorry there wasn’t uh, by any chance do you all happen to remember the last few days or…?” hoping that everyone in his class collectively got amnesia so he wouldn’t have to deal with that particular hand grenade today.

“We do in fact remember Mr. Son,” the teacher cleared his throat as the entire morning had just been about what to do if Gohan even showed back up in class.

Gohan’s face paled upon hearing that he hadn’t lucked out with that, he braced himself for the worst.

“I want to know one thing, why?” Videl said suddenly. “Why did you let my dad take credit for Cell, for all that and why didn’t we know all this before?”

Gohan looked at the floor sadly as he had come up with dozens of excuses over the last few years for why he did what he did, but it all came back to one thing. “I was ashamed. When I beat Cell it was at the cost of my father’s life and if everyone knew how that fight went, they’d know how much of a failure I truly was. That I risked everything for my own pride and morals that ultimately turned to blood stained dust with Dad and Android 16 dying just to get me to actually fight for something for once in my life.”

“So I just stayed quiet and let Hercule take credit. It was probably for the best, people needed a hero not some kid who didn’t know what he was doing,” Gohan shrugged.

No one in the class knew how to respond to that and Gohan stood awkwardly in place, before he walked across the room and sat in his usual spot. The discussion was just over at that point.

After what felt like an eternity Gohan got out of class and decided that the cat was out of the bag and just flew off into the sky towards his home, only further cementing in the minds of his classmates that what they experienced in the future was real.

* * *

When Gohan touched down on the grass outside his home he saw a Capsule Corp flying car resting on the lawn while Goten and the younger Trunks ran around the older Trunks having a good time, he could also sense his mother, Vegeta and both Bulma’s inside the home.

He gave Trunks a wave even as the older half-saiyan was tackled into the ground by the two younger kids. Deciding that he shouldn’t get involved in “play time” Gohan stepped into his house to see the adults seated around the table. It was a little surreal to see all these people in his own home as this was never really the meet up place for their group.

“I don’t see why you are so opposed to him moving closer to the city. He’s going to eventually go off to college after high school and get a job, being so far out here will only hinder his chances to get employed or make the needed connections,” Bulma said to the unsure mother.

“I agree with myself,” the older Bulma said nodding her head. “Unless Gohan is planning on surviving off the next tournament’s prize money, he’s going to be unable to get any real job if he puts that he lives all the way out in the Paozu Mountains on any application.”

Chi-Chi made an unsure noise as she knew both the Bulma’s were right but she wasn’t used to being ganged up on like this.

Vegeta just watched the negotiations curiously as he could tell that something was up.

“Hey everyone, what’s going on?” Gohan asked as he stepped into the kitchen, hoping he would be let in on the conversation.

“Hey Gohan,” Future Bulma said, her voice gaining a lilt when she acknowledged him.

Chi-Chi looked between her son and her hands for a moment. “Gohan, how would you feel about… moving out?” she asked nervously.

“Oh,” Gohan paused as this was coming out of left field.

“Don’t think I’m kicking you out, I just, they…” Chi-Chi sighed as she gestured for one of the Bulmas to take over.

“Gohan, this morning you were super late to school, partly because of having to come to Capsule Corp last night but also because you are so far away from your school that you either have to wake up super early to make it on time or go at your top speed.” The present Bulma started to explain before the older Bulma took over.

“And that isn’t exactly fair to you, and as we told Chi-Chi, when you want to go to college and get a job, living all the way out here is at best going to look strange.” Future Bulma continued. “So we suggested that we get you an apartment in West City. It’s not too far away considering how fast you can go, but it’d be easier on you.” Watching Gohan’s features to gauge his reaction.

“Yeah I guess that makes sense,” Gohan rubbed the back of his head. “It would let me get an extra hour or so of sleep that I’ve been giving up just to get to school on time. And, mom don’t take this the wrong way but I think having some space to myself might do me some good.” Hoping that his mother wouldn’t react negatively to him saying that he’d enjoy not always having her around.

“Well I guess that settles it then,” Chi-Chi said quietly. She wanted for Gohan to go out and spread his proverbial wings, but she also wanted for him to want to stay home with her.

“But how are we going to afford an apartment though?” Gohan asked, because while his family wasn’t destitute, that was an expense he wasn’t sure his family could bear.

“You just let us take care of that Gohan,” Future Bulma said, giving Gohan a wink, as the conversation shifted to something lighter.

* * *

Gohan was shocked at how little space his belongings took up after unboxing what he brought over from the apartment Bulma had purchased for him, not just rented, but outright bought for him. He never considered that he didn’t have much but when everything he owned only took up three boxes and that was outnumbered by the stuff coming in that Bulma and his friends purchased for him as housewarming gifts, it made him feel a little odd about his life.

But he tried to not dwell on that as he placed his clothes in the closet and watched as the Bulmas directed where the furniture should go.

It didn’t take very long after all the movers got the furniture in, apparently being paid for by the wealthiest woman in the world was proper motivation for the company to ensure the job got done quickly so it wasn’t even an hour later when everyone was seated around on the large couch chatting over drinks.

Everyone was excited to meet the Future Bulma and Trunks again, even if for Trunks it was his first time.

“I would have thought Eighteen and… Eighteen would have come with you?” Yamcha asked because he’d been told about the other androids appearing from the little time travel adventure.

“Well, Eighteen figured that it might be better to get Eighteen accustomed to being around people before introducing her to people in our groups,” Krilin shrugged. “We can be a bit wild.”

“Going to have to do something about the name though,” Tien pondered.

“Well she’s thinking of going by her real name and Eighteen will just stay Eighteen,” Krillin responded.

“What about Seventeen though?” Chiaotzu asked.

“Oh Eighteen called Seventeen and he came around and picked himself up, probably gone off to do whatever he did after the Cell stuff.” Krillin answered as he remembered that fun phone call with his brother-in-law and now he had two of them. “Man was Marron confused when she saw them.” He held back a laugh as he remembered how his daughter didn’t know which mommy was mommy and which Uncle Teen was the real Uncle Teen.

Despite how nice it was for everyone to get together again, especially when it didn’t involve the end of the world or something else trying to kill them, they all did have to return home for the night and Gohan was left alone in his apartment wondering what to do with himself.

* * *

After turning in for the night, Gohan seemed a bit restless as his new bed just didn’t feel right. It was in the wee hours of the morning when he heard a knocking on his door. “Who could that be, I hope it’s not neighbors coming to greet the new move-in,” Gohan said as he wouldn’t enjoy being kept from his bed for all the good it was doing him now.

“Hey Gohan,” Future Bulma greeted once Gohan opened the door for her.

“Bulma?” Gohan questioned why she was here so late at night.

“Sorry I just forgot something and I was working late and took a gamble that you were still awake you know,” she said as she fished out a key from her purse. “You’re going to want that when you leave in the morning or else you’d end up locked out. Of course if you leave a window open you’d never have to worry about that.” She chuckled at her own little joke.

“Yeah right,” Gohan said appreciatively while he took the key from Bulma. He would need that for when he got home so he could get back into his apartment without having to call the building manager or something more drastic, like breaking the door down.

“Hey since you’re up, you mind if I come in and chat for a bit?” Bulma asked. “We had a lot of people at the party and I didn’t really get a chance for any longer conversations, especially not with everyone wanting to ask about the future, as if I remember who won any big games or something like that.”

Gohan shook his head after a moment and stepped aside. “No sure, come in, I’ll uh, make some tea.”

“That sounds nice,” Bulma said as she entered the apartment and put a little sway in her hips as she walked.

Something that Gohan did notice but didn’t know how to react to. After the two had their cups of tea in hand and were having a pleasant conversation, the topic moved to a more serious one. “So now that you’re back, are you and Vegeta going to… I don’t know, get back together?” Gohan asked as he took a sip.

Future Bulma ran her finger around the rim of the cup. “I don’t know, the Vegeta I knew died. He wasn’t someone I could have seen myself marrying. I guess I eventually did. But him and past me are together and I don’t want to try and fit myself into that, it’d be… weird,” Bulma admitted as she noticed that Vegeta was a bit standoffish with her and she was curious if he just wasn’t sure how to treat her, like a wife, like they were dating or as a total stranger.

“That sounds rough,” Gohan commented because his very limited understanding of relationships didn’t come close to touching on the complex situation Bulma had found herself in.

“I’m just happy for Trunks, both of them. The young one is so excited about having a big brother just like Goten,” Bulma chuckled as she heard how much the Kid Trunks was loving having her son around. “And I think Trunks likes having his father and there’s just so many more options for him now that he didn’t have before. A chance to get an education, meet people, fall in love. Not having to skimp on meals because he tries to make food last just a bit longer until we can find another supply. Or listen to a radio as the people in a city broadcasted for help as the androids killed them all. He can have an actual life here now.”

“And that’s all thanks to you Gohan,” Future Bulma said with half lidded eyes as she rested her hand on top of Gohans, letting silence settle into the room. “Oh jeez it’s getting late, I should go,” Bulma said as she looked at the clock.

It took Gohan a moment to realize that Bulma was leaving because he’d been so caught up in that small touch before that it was only as she was heading towards the door did he realize how sluggish she was moving. “Bulma you’re really tired, too tired to fly back to Capsule Corp. How about you just spend the night here, it’ll be safer and that way you don’t run the risk of crashing or crashing before you get home.”

Bulma turned around and looked a bit stunned at the offer. “Oh I couldn’t, it was one thing the other night but I shouldn’t.” Trying to reject the offer gently.

“It’s not like we haven’t slept in the same bed together before, practically did it for a week straight, what’s one more night,” Gohan gave a shrug as he didn’t see a problem with that happening just one more time. It’d be better than reading that she hit something with her flying car on the way home.

“Well…” Bulma hummed even as she moved away from the door. “It’s not a bad idea and I am really tired, so I’ll take you up on the offer Gohan.” Bulma smirked as Gohan turned around and walked her to the bedroom.

Gohan found himself falling into a deep, restful sleep almost immediately when he felt Bulma press up against his body. He was unaware that this would repeat itself quite often over the coming weeks.

He also found that he greatly enjoyed not having to wake up two hours before his school started just to be there on time, the feeling of a soft body next to him was just a bonus.

* * *

“So Gohan,” Bulma said over her shoulder as she stood at the stove, cooking up breakfast for the two of them. “Got any plans for the day besides school?”

“Well I was going to go see Piccolo about getting some training to get back into shape since I’ve gotten so weak since Cell but after that, not much. Why?” Gohan inquired as he got himself ready for school.

“Just curious,” Bulma hummed. “Something I’m a bit curious about. For pretty much the last twenty years of my life, things like books, television, movies, games and all that other stuff had to be ignored for the sake of survival so it might be a little interesting to see what all came about in this timeline that wasn’t destroyed.”

Gohan agreed with how interesting that did sound to him, but he just didn’t think that he was the right person to ask since he never watched much t.v. and most books he read were textbook stuff. “I’m not really the most knowledgeable about that kind of stuff Bulma. Maybe Present Bulma could give you some recommendations, since you’d probably like the same things.”

She chuckled because there was truth in how they both liked similar things, but she felt that explaining that to Gohan would ruin all her hard work thus far. “I don’t know, she and I lived completely different lives, we might not have as much in common as you think, but if you don’t know much then that’s even better, we can experience these new things together,” Future Bulma said. “So what do you say?”

“Well that actually does sound kind of nice,” Gohan admitted. “Never really been to the movies or anything like that.” Not that he didn’t want to, but just that there weren’t any theaters close enough that he would feel like flying all the way out to go to one in the first place.

“Great, it’s a date then,” Bulma said cheerfully. “This Friday we’ll hit up dinner, a movie and just explore the city. It’ll be nice to try and get readjusted to a world that isn’t destroyed. And you get the benefit of seeing more places that you’ve never been to.”

Gohan had been ready to protest the date comment but Bulma had segueyed the conversation into a different direction and he figured that she was right to want to get back into the world that she had lost. And Gohan didn’t really have a reason to decline now since there was a benefit to him doing this as well as he didn’t know much of the city that he just moved to and there were most certainly worse ways to spend his time than with such pleasant company like Bulma. So he agreed to go along with her on Friday after classes let out.


End file.
